Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Sat Nov 30, 2019 12:59 am

I am in the market for a decent fishfinder and chartplotter. I currently have a Furuno GP-1650WF built in over the wheel but when I had to get the software re-flashed to take a C-Map card I lost the sounder function. I am looking at the Garmin STRIKER Plus 9sv but am wondering would it make more sense to have 2 different units and place the fishfinder in an area where I can see it better when I am fishing.

I do like the practicality of having everything in one neat unit and a single wire to the battery. Grateful for any advise.

Re: Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Mon Dec 02, 2019 12:33 pm

I was involved into some pike competitions from boats. So we have always had two fishfinders. The first one is used to explore the bottom and its structure (full screen) while the second one is a backup of the first one working on a different frequency (first half of the screen) + map of the area for navigation on the second half of the screen

Re: Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:06 pm

Many small boat skippers like to have the "comfort" of two independent units. This may be a moot point as units like the Garmin are very reliable.
Is it the case that the Striker Plus is primarily a fish finder with built in gps but no plotter/chart built in? I think it would be important to have full plotting/chart on my gps. If you can manage with a split screen - plotter and fishfinder then a single unt will be fine.

Re: Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Tue Dec 03, 2019 8:55 pm

JimC wrote:Many small boat skippers like to have the "comfort" of two independent units. This may be a moot point as units like the Garmin are very reliable.
Is it the case that the Striker Plus is primarily a fish finder with built in gps but no plotter/chart built in? I think it would be important to have full plotting/chart on my gps. If you can manage with a split screen - plotter and fishfinder then a single unt will be fine.


Thanks Jim, I had to have another look at that unit online, some sites just mention that it is a GPS/fishfinder combo and others say it is a chartplotter/Fishfinder combo so all a bit confusing! It is pre-loaded with maps called BlueChart® g2 HD charts so I assumed it was a chartplotter. I might take a look at it in Chmarine, the new technology is unreal compared to my current unit!

Re: Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:47 pm

I have the Striker Plus 5cv https://www.chmarine.com/garmin-striker ... ransducer/ and it has only a gps/plotter with no map. It was got as a replacement fish finder. The extra features of a plotter and built-in Quickdraw Contours mapping software is a nice extra I did not have with the old fishfinder.
I have a Garman GPSmap 550 as my main navigation unit.

You would need to look at this if you want a full gps/map https://www.chmarine.com/garmin-echomap ... ransducer/

this is some of the contour mapping I put on to it that is not on the 550
cont.jpg

This is what it looked like on the Garmin 550 at the same time

gps 550.jpg
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Re: Fishfinder/Chartplotter combo or separate units

Thu Dec 05, 2019 2:59 pm

Caww76 wrote:
Thanks Jim, I had to have another look at that unit online, some sites just mention that it is a GPS/fishfinder combo and others say it is a chartplotter/Fishfinder combo so all a bit confusing! It is pre-loaded with maps called BlueChart® g2 HD charts so I assumed it was a chartplotter. I might take a look at it in Chmarine, the new technology is unreal compared to my current unit!


If it's preloaded with g2 HD charts then you are away for slates!